History of ‘Temperature’: Maturation of a Measurement Concept
The accepted manuscript for this conceptual etymology of “temperature,” to be published in Annals of Science, is below.
Read
Author: John
Reviving Material Theories of Induction
John D. Norton says philosophers have been led astray for thousands of years by their attempt to treat induction formally.
Read
Ockham on Induction
Summa Logicae, part 3-3, chapters 31–36, trans. John P. McCaskey, September 18, 2017 The text here is from Opera Philosophica,
Read
Medieval Transmission and Humanist Solution to the Scandal of Philosophy
Fordham University, Center for Medieval Studies, December 6, 2016
Read
Fordham University’s Medieval Fellow, 2016–7
For the academic year 2015–6, I will be the Medieval Fellow at Fordham University’s Center for Medieval Studies.
Read
Natural Rights, Civil Rights, and Guns
Regulating weapons is a core responsibility for any government. It should be done in a way that protects the natural rights of citizens, including that of self-defense.
Read
Induction in the Renaissance
During the Renaissance, an older understanding of induction, one prevalent in antiquity, was rediscovered and adopted.
Read
Sgarbi, The Aristotelian Tradition and the Rise of British Empiricism
A book review in HOPOS, Spring 2015.
Read
Oct. 22 in NYC — Rights in America: A History
In this lecture, I trace how Americans have conceptualized rights since the nation’s founding until today.
Read
Contemporary Civilization
A section of Columbia University’s famous two-semester Contemporary Civilization seminar.
Read
Universal Laws and the Case of Cholera
Harvard University, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, November 30, 2015.
Read
Natural Rights, Civil Rights, and Gay Marriage
A proper defense of gay marriage requires distinguishing the natural right to marry and the civil right to a civil marriage.
Read
Induction Without the Uniformity Principle
Not all conceptions of induction rely on a uniformity principle. The Socratic, Aristotelian and Baconian didn’t.
Read
How to Think Through and Argue About Public Policies
Here is how to analyze—and argue with anyone about—any public policy, no matter what your political views are.
Read
The History of Induction
David Hume didn’t think he had anything important to say about induction. That’s just one myth in the history of induction.
Read
Mill Came to Bury Induction, Not to Praise It
Mill’s project was not to promote induction but to replace it with his own Hypothetical and Deductive Methods.
Read
The Sources of Mill’s View of Ratiocination and Induction
An article, co-authored with Steffen Ducheyne, in which I trace the sources for John Stuart Mill’s views on induction.
Read
Free Will: A Kind of Will
To understand free will, think about how your will differs from a dog’s. Don’t compare yourself to a rock.
Read
Ethics: The Science for Finding Happiness
You need a way to determine what will make you happy in life. The science that figures that out is ethics.
Read
Analytic Statements and Organic Concepts
Analytic statements have gotten a bad rap. But shorn of unfortunate associations, there is nothing wrong with them.
Read
The Other Kind of Induction
University of Pittsburgh, Center for Philosophy of Science, October 17, 2014.
Read
I Have a Right. Don’t Try to Stop Me.
Why are rights to vote, to be angry, and to peaceably assemble all called rights? Because it would be wrong for someone to stop you.
Read
Evil Deeds Can Have Good Results
We have to accept that some people can benefit from the sins of others.
Read
Rival Defenses of American Capitalism
A course on the changing ways Americans have defended free-market capitalism, from the country’s founding to today.
Read
Stop Pirating Copyrighted Course Readings
No, it is not legal for professors to upload or copy readings for your students, not even using password-protected course sites.
Read
Key to Induction: Distinguish General and Universal
To solve the problem of induction, we should distinguish general statements from universal ones and recognize the fundamental importance of the first.
Read
Make Your World a Better Place: Ignore Climate Change
If your goal is to make the world a better place for people, don’t worry at all about man-made climate change.
Read
Induction in the Socratic Tradition
McCaskey here seeks to recover a lost conception of induction, one whose leading theoreticians were William Whewell, Francis Bacon, Socrates, and Aristotle.
Read
Jacopo Zabarella, On Methods and On Regressus
First ever collated Latin edition and English translation of Jacopo Zabarella on method and regressus.
Read
New Libertarians: New Promoters of a Welfare State
A new libertarianism is coming. It is based on progressive rather than individualistic ideology and advocates a universal welfare system.
Read
A Dog-Eat-Dog World: Rand vs. Rawls
Today’s quiz: Match the political philosopher with his or her view of human nature. Hint: They both believe we should design political
Read
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, but Not Property
Property is not on that list with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And shouldn’t be.
Read
How Best to Attack Ayn Rand’s System
Ayn Rand’s whole philosophical system rests on a distinctive method of arguing. To refute her ethics, you must refute that method.
Read
Myths in the History of Induction
New York University, History of Science Lecture Series, December 4, 2013.
Read
Initiation of the Use of Physical Force
How does precluding the initiation of physical force preclude theft and fraud?
Read
Altruism Can’t Work
Altruism is not generosity, good will, or helping others. Those can be selfish. Altruism is the opposite of selfishness—and it cannot work, even by its own standards.
Read
Selfish Things to Do in Life
To live life to its fullest, don’t be a hedonist or a Nietzschean.
Read
It’s For Your Own Good
When is it moral to shove a stranger out of danger or to take the car keys from a drunken friend?
Read
Politics and Philosophy of Ayn Rand
This seminar examines the political and philosophical thought of Ayn Rand (1905–1982).
Read
Moral Foundations of Capitalism
An exploration of three ways free-market capitalism has been defended in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Read
Nineteenth-Century Philosophy of Science
In this seminar, we examine the shift from a Newtonian and Baconian outlook on science to a statistically oriented one.
Read
History of Modern Science and Technology
In this course, we survey extraordinary advances in science and technology since the Renaissance.
Read
The History of Scientific Methods, Pythagoras to Popper
In this course, we examine centuries of disagreements over what constitutes valid scientific method.
Read
Induction and Concept-Formation in Francis Bacon and William Whewell
University of Pittsburgh, Center for Philosophy of Science, May, 2004.
Read
Regula Socratis: The Rediscovery of Ancient Induction in Early Modern England
My dissertation. A account of how philosophical induction was conceived in the ancient world and how that conception was later rediscovered by, especially, Francis Bacon.
Read
McKnight, The Religious Foundations of Francis Bacon’s Thought
A book review in Technology and Culture 48, July 2007.
Read
Freeing Aristotelian Epagōgē from Prior Analytics II 23
Prior Analytics II 23 is not really about induction by complete enumeration, as all commentators have thought.
Read
Matthews, Theology and Science in the Thought of Francis Bacon
A book review in Technology and Culture 50, July 2009.
Read
Groarke, An Aristotelian Account of Induction
A book review in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Read
Rate My Professors
Students’ feedback posted at Rate My Professors.
Read
Snyder, Reforming Philosophy
A book review in The Objective Standard, Summer 2008.
Read
Bacon’s Idols & Harvey’s Eggs
Stevens Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Letters, September 15, 2010.
Read
Harriman, The Logical Leap
A review on Amazon, September 2010.
Read
Resignation from the Boards of ARI and the Anthem Foundation
September 3, 2010 [Corrigenda and addenda are identified at the bottom.] I have been on the Board of Directors of
Read
Bacon’s Idols & Harvey’s Eggs
HOPOS Conference, Budapest, Hungary, June, 2010.
Read
Myths in the History of Induction
St. John’s University, Philosophy Department, October 2007.
Read
